Green River Fest 2013: No lines, Plenty of Great Music, Balloons Tethered

The first day of Green River Festival 2013 was fun, just as much fun as I hoped it would be. What I sensed and confirmed among many people I asked was that this year the crowd was smaller….but it was just as enthusiastic as ever.  When I went up to the very front row to enjoy The Skatalites up close, reveling in their James Bond Theme, I was as happy as I could be.

Some times a line up just gets better because you didn’t know you’d like the acts. I caught Miss Tess and the Talkbacks, what a witty and sensual singer she is! I don’t think I’ve heard that many Skatalites records all the way through, but they were tremendous, especially those three horn men, trumpet, big sax and trombone, with the main man in the “Hit Man” hat up front.

From the stage one of the musicians commented on the balloons, bobbing up and down, tethered, and not able to be released. A friend of Mary’s who wore a ballooning company logo on her shirt explained that there were thermals that were too dangerous up high, so no balloons book off for the evening launch. People lined up to bob up and down in the balloon’s basket. I remember meeting a big group of ballooning enthusiasts when I went to the Plano Texas balloon festival. “We just love getting the balloons ready, doing all of the pre-flight checks and getting it all set up–we don’t mind that much if we don’t get to fly,” one woman balloon pilot told me then.

The lines at the food stalls were non-existent. We got a prime location right in the second row of the umbrella people. We feasted on wood-fired basil zucchini pizza and spicy chicken burritos. We had our shelter, the music was fine, and like so many times before we ran into countless friends and acquaintances.   It was a perfect day for the fest! The rain lasted about four minutes, nobody got wet, and for the rest of the day it wasn’t even that hot.